Cloth-measuring machine.



H. G. STEELY. CLOTH MEASURING MACHINE.

APPLlCATlON FILED JUNE H, 1914. 1,147,458. Patented July 20, 1915.

- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Snow W01,

H. e. STEELY. I CLOTH MEASURING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE II I914. LM7A58Q Patented July 20,1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

(21372;?- 61 wuautoz H. G. STEELY. CLOTH MEASURING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE H. 1914. 1,,M7A58B Patented July 20, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 and useful Improvements in Cloth-Meas.

. West Liberty,

mran sraa as Parana orator.

HARRY e. STEELY, on-wnsr LIBERTY, 01am.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that. I, HARRY. Gr. STEELY, citizen of the United States, residing at in the county of Logan and State of Ohio, have invented certain new uring Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cloth measuring primary object is to pro-' machines and its vide a simple and efiicient apparatus whereby cloth may be accurately measured as it is drawn from a bolt.

Secondary objects of the invention are to provide means to prevent endwise movement of the bolt while cloth is being drawn there from, and 0 provide means whereby the measured portion of the cloth may be easily and quickly severed from the stock.

The invention also seeks to improve generally the construction and arrangement of the members of a cloth-measuring machine, to the end that the efliciency of the same may be increased and the cost of manufacture and up-keep kept upon an economical basis.

The several stated objects of the invention and such other incidental objects as will appear from the following description are attained in the use of a mechanism such as is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,- and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in the claims following the description.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of a cloth-measuring mechanism embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same w th parts brokenaway, the bolt receptacle being removed; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional elevation of the cutter; Fig. 4 is a front view of the same; Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the reel; Fig. 6 is an end view of the reel; Fig. 7 1s a side view of one end of the reel with parts in section; Fig. 8 is a plan view of the computing mechanism; Fig. 9 is a side view of the same with parts broken away and parts in section; Fig. 10 is an elevation of the bolt receptacle as seen from the rear.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a pair of standards 1 and 2 which are to be secured to the store counter at the front and,

Specification of Letters Patent.

' with the adjacent alrds 1 and 2 I .lindrical rod 8 'spaced straps 9 provided at Patented July so, 1915.

Application filed June 11, 1914. Serial No. 844,552.

' providedat its upper end -with a sleeve 4 constituting a bearing for the reel. This standard 3 may, if so desired, be connected standard 2 so as to occupy a fixed spaced relation thereto and avoid the necessity of adjusting the standard to properly accommodate, the reel.

The standards 1 and 2 are connected at their upper ends by a transverse bar 5 which has its front edge beveled, as shown at 6, Fig. '3 so that the-said bar will constitute the stationary member of the shears or cutting mechanism.

.Upon the rear side of each of the standrovide lugs 7 carrying a cywhich will pivotally support the basket or bolt receptacle, the said receptacle consisting of a plurality of curved their opposite ends with eyes'10 and 11, the eyes 10 fitting upon the pivotal support 8, as clearly shown. The straps 9 are preferably formed of polished or plate metal so as to reduce the wearupon the bolt ofcloth, and are spaced apart so as to avoid unnecessary weight and,

also to prevent the accumulation of dirt or dust in .th'e'receptacle. Theeyes 11 at the outer ends of'the straps 9 are fitted upon a rod 12 which extends from end to end of the. receptacle, and at the extremities of the said rod I secure brackets or posts 13, in the upper erfds of which is secured a rod 14 having brackets 15 slidably mounted thereon. The brackets 15 have inwardly projecting arms 16 which are secured upon the upper edges of boards or partitions 17, which are of such dimensions that they will fit within the receptacle and extend transversely of the same. It will be readily understood that, by shifting the brackets or collars 15 along the rod 14, the boards or partitions 17 may be brought to any desired points of the receptacle and, consequently, adjusted so as to fit against the ends of the bolt placed in the re-' ceptacle, and thereby prevent endwise move ment of the bolt. The cloth drawn from the bolt will, consequently, move smoothly and evenly through the machine so that the computing mechanism will be accurately operated. The apparatus may thus be built to accommodate cloth of maximum width and at the same time be readily adapted to measure narrow cloth. The brackets 16 are so the rod or support 12, and the partitions 17 ,will pass between adjacent straps so that they will be prevented from moving by the is provided at its rear end with an angular tapered terminal, as shown at 20. See Figs. 5 and 7. This angular tapered terminal is adapted to'engage a correspondingly shaped socket in a stub-shaft 21, (Fig. 2) which is swiveled Within a sleeve or bearing 22 formed at the outer end of a supporting arm 23, and the outer extremity of this stubshaft is provided with a crank or other han die as whereby it may be manipulated. The supporting arm 23 is pivotally attached to the adjacent standard 1, as shown at 25, and a spring may be fitted to this pivotal or hinged connection so that the arm will automatically swing away from the standard when the latch 6r retaining device 26 (Figs. 1 and 2) is released. The hollow shaft 18 is provided between its ends with pairs of longitudinal slots 27 and dogs or presser fingers 28 extend through the said slots, said dogs being pivotally attached to the driving shaft 19, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7. It will be readily understood that if the shaft 19 be moved axially the engagement ofthe said dogs with the end walls of the slots 27 will. cause the dogs to swing inwardly or outwardly according to the direction of movement of the driving shaft. The outer ends of the said dogs bear against the inner edges of blades 29, which are disposed diametrically'opposite each other and constitutethe movable arms of the cloth folding reel. These blades or arms extend the full width of the machine and are suitably shaped at one end, as shown at 30, Fig. 2 to clear the bearing 4L as the reel is rotated. The said blades or arms are constructed with sockets 31 adapted to receive pins 32 projecting radially from and rigid with the hollow shaft 18, and springs 33 are coiled around the said pins between the inner ends of the sockets and suitable stops on the pins, so that the expansion of the springs tends to move the blades radially inward toward the shaft, and the strength of these springs should be sufficient to instantly move the blades inwardly when the driving shaft is shifted longitudinally to permit the dogs 28 to swing inwardly. It will thus be seen that, if the driving shaft be moved along its own axis, the dogs 28 will be moved inwardly or outwardly and, consequently, the blades or reel arms 29 will be moved toward or away from the shaft so that the reel may be collapsed to permit withdrawal of cloth folded upon the same or extended to support cloth which is being measured. It will also be noted that, if the driving shaft be rotated,

piece of cloth be held over merges the said dogs by their engagement with the side walls of the movement to the hollow shaft and, consequently, the reel may be rotated.

The blades 29 are provided near their outer edges with longitudinal grooves 34, and the end of the cloth to be measured is secured in one of the said grooves by a clamping bar 35, equal in length to the blade and carried by levers 36 which are fulcrumed upon lugs 37 upon the blade and are extended past said lugs through the blade, as shown most clearly in Fig. 6. The inner ends of the levers are connected by links 38 with the fixed blades a0, nuts 39 being provided on the links to secure them properly to said blades 4l0. It will be read- .ily understood that when the blades 29 are moved radially outward the inner end of the links 38 will be relatively stationary through then connection with the fixed blades L0, and consequently, the fulcrum lugs 37 will move outwardly relative to the inner ends of the angle levers 36 so that the outer ends of said levers will be swung to carry the bars 35 into engagement with the grooves 3a, and consequently, if the end of athe groove in the uppermost blade 29, the clamping bar 35 will be moved against the said cloth so as to force the same into the groove 34 and there by securely clamp it to the reel. The blades l0 are sec red directly to the hollow shaft 18 in any convenient or preferred manner and preferably disposed at a right angle to the blades 29 and alternate therewith.

To the inner sides of the standards and at the upper ends of bracket 42 (Figs. 2 a support for the supports a guide-rail 43, which extends between the standards and to which is secured a rack-bar kl. The bracket is provided with a recess 45 which receives a shoe 46, and the lower edge of the guide-rail 43 projects below the upper wall of the said recess -15 so as to engage a groove 47 formed in the shoe 4A3, thereby gu ling the said shoe in its movement across the machine below the stationary blade. extends between bosses 48 provided on the inner face of a housing 49, the shoe being secured, to said bosses by screws or bolts 50 inserted. through the bosses into the shoe from the outer side of the casing. .ln the lower portion of the casing 49 is mounted a shaft 51, which carries a gear-wheel. which meshes with a gear-wheel 53 mounted on a shaft 54 in the upper )ortion'"of the casing. cutter 55 which bears against the blade 5 so as to cooperate therewith and cut through the cloth stretched over the same rapidly and cleanly. A handle 56 is mounted upon the outer side of the casing 49 and is preferand 6) which furnishes This shoe 4:6 is secured to and i This shaft 54 also carries a rotary slots 27 will impart rotary the same, I secure a blade or bar 5, and also ably secured to the bosses 57 which provide bearings for the respective shafts 51 and 5 1. In addition to the gear'wheel 52, the shaft 51 carries a pinion 58 which meshes with the rack bar 54:.

It will be readily not-ed that, if the housing J19, be moved across the machine, the pinion 58 will be caused to rotate through its engagement with the rack-bar 54,. and this rotation will be transmitted directly through the gears 52 and 53 to thecutter 55 so that the same will rotate at the proper speed to cut through the 'cloth without tearing the same or leaving a ragged edge.

The computing mechanism may be ofany convenient type, but I have shown, and pre fer to use, a mechanism comprising a casing 59 supported by a bracket 60 projecting from the upper end of the standard 2, the said casing 59 being provided with a vertical sight opening 61 through which an end less apron,62 or other form of movable eX- hibitor may be viewed. The frame 63 disposed around the right opening will have marked thereon a scale indicating prices per yard, and the apron 62 (Figs. 8 and 9) will I have suitably displayed thereon numerals representing the total selling price ofpro- 'gr'essive quantities of cloth at the several prices per yard so that when the mechanism has been operated the apron will display through the sight opening the cost of the number of yards which have been drawn off at a stated price per yard. The apron provided at its upper and lower edges with I f openings or perforations 64 adapted to be engaged by teeth 65 on a drum 66,;which is connected by a spring 67 with a stationary post or support 68 erected upon the bottomof the casing. The drum 66 is actuated by a gearing to be presently described, and the spring 67 acts in opposition to said gearing so that after the device has been manip- 'ulated and the gearing released, the apron will be returned to its initial zero point.

The apron is carried around guide-rollers '69 within the casing, at the ends of the same,

and an additional idler or guide-roller 70 disposed at an inner point of the casing, this arrangement permitting the use of a long apron and, consequently, providing for sales ofa wide range.

A gear wheel 71 is connected with the lower end of the drum 66,-and this gearwheel, which is arranged below the casing '59, meshes with a 1inion .72 which is concentric with a beveled gear 73 and carried by the same shaft as said beveled gear. The shaft carrying'the gear 7 3and the pinion 72 is mounted in the upper end of the bracket 60, and the beveled gear '73 meshes with a beveled pinion '74 which is secured to the outer end'ofa shaft 75 journaled in a sleeve 76. which is pivotally mounted in an off-set or arm 77 oft-he bracket 60, as shown most clearly in Fig.2. To the inner end of the sleeve 76 I pivotally attach the upper end of a link 78 which has its lower end pivoted to a lever 79 fulcrumed upon the adjacent standard 2. It will be readily seen "that, if theqlever 79 be manipulated so as to push upwardly upon the link 78, the sleevie 76 will be rocked upon its pivotal connection with the offset 77 so that the pinion 74 willbe released from its engagement with the beveled gear 73, and the spring 67 will then be free to return the apron to its initial position. Upon the inner end of the sl1aft75 is secured a roller or disk .80 which is adapted to bear upon the clothfpassing through the apparatus, it being understood that the shaft 75 is disposed vertically over the bar apron 62. The face of the disk or roller 80 is provided with a series of graduations 82, and these graduations will preferably be so spaced as to represent inches, so that the .operator by watching the roller will be informed as-to how many inches of the cloth he has drawn'fthrough the machine and under the, roller. An indicator finger 83 is hung loosely on the shaft 75 in front of the roller 80, and this indicator finger, byrea- Vi son of its own weight, will .always remain in a vertical position-and point to the place of contact between the roller and the cloth,

which will correspond tothe zero point be fore any cloth has been drawn through the machine, and at each subsequent stage will be the point by which the length of cloth withdrawn from the bolt may be determined. i

It is thought the manner of using my improved machine will be readily understood from the'foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. The bolt of cloth is placed in the receptacle and the end of the same drawn over the blade 5 and then carried to the reel, as shown in Fig. 1. The free end of the cloth is placed against the uppermost blade 29, over the groove 34 therein, and the arm 23 then swung into position to engage the end of thedriving shaft. See Fig. 1. The impact of the arm or stub-shaft 21, mounted in the end thereof, with the extremity of the driving shaft will move the said shaft longitudinally and thereby cause the dogs 28 to swing outwardly, as above described. The blades 29 will be thereby moved radially outward and the clamping bar 35 drawn into en-- then manipulated so as to lower the roller 80 onto the cloth and the crank handle 24: then actuatedso as to rotate the reel and wind the cloth thereon. As the cloth moves over the bar 5, the roller 80 will be rotated through its frictional engagement with the cloth, and the train of gearing connecting the shaft of said roller with the apron 62 will be actuated so that said apron will move past the sight opening 61, as will be readily understood. When the desired quantity of cloth has been drawn over the bar 5, the handle 56 is grasped and the cutter then pushed across the machine, The cloth will be thereby instantly severed with a clean straight out. The free end of the oloth will then be wound upon the reel andtthe latch 26 released so as to permit the arm 23 to be swung away from the end of the reel, whereupon the blades 29 will be moved radially inward and, consequently, collapse the reel sufliciently to permit the cloth to be easily drawn endwise from the same. It will be understood, of course, that when the blades 29 move inwardly, the clamping bar will be swung out of its engagement with the end of the cloth so that no manual manipulation will be needed to release the end of the cloth from the said blade, and the folded cloth may be easily moved endwise from the reel. The cost of the severed cloth will be seen by a glance at the apron 62, (Fig. l) and if so desired the end of the cloth remaining in the bolt may be drawn to and secured upon the reel so that a second sale may be made from the same cloth.

The cutter casin i9 is provided near its lower edge with a lug or lateral projection 8 f (Fig. 2.) which will ride upon the upper edge of the lever 79 and thereby rock said lever to eil'ect lifting of the roller 80 from the cloth, it being noted that the said lever has a convex upper surface extending into the path of the lug. The roller will thus be automatically moved from the path of the cutter when the cloth is being severed.

A roller 85 is provided at the top of the standards between the bolt receptacle and the cutter bar 5 so as to reduce the frictional wear upon the cloth passing from the bolt.

It will be noted that my device will fold the' cloth as it is drawn from the bolt and measured, so that all possibility of soiling the cloth through contact with any unnoticed dirt or other matter upon the counter will be avoided, and the labor of measuring, and subsequently folding the cloth will be avoided. The attaching of the cloth to the reel and the releasing of the samc therefrom will be accomplished automatically as the arm 23 is swung to or from the reel, and the cutter is so arranged that injury therefrom cannot occur, inasmuch as the moving blade is completely housed and is operative only when it is pushed across days business,

Liar/nee the machine. The a paratus is set up with the computing mechanism at the front of the counter so that it may be readily observed by the salesman, and the machine will not occupy a great deal of space, so that it will not be unsightly when set up for use. As the receptacle is pivotally hung upon the supporting frame it may be swung upwardly over the top of the same at the close of the so that it will offer no obstruction to cleaning of the counter and may be easily covered to protect the same from the accumulation of dust while in use. The cutter is so mounted upon the frame that it will be held against falling and, at the same time, may be readily moved across the machine when the cloth is to be severed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new 1s:

1. The combination of a supporting frame,

a cylindrical rod on said frame, a second cylindrical rod parallel wi h and spaced from the first-mentioned rod, a series of straps having their ends rolled upon themselves about the respective rods to form pivotal connections therewith, posts rising from the ends of the second rod, a rod secured in and extending between the upper endseof said posts, brackets slidably and pivotally fitted upon said last-mentioned rod, and partitions secured to the lower ends of said brackets and adapted to fit between and be held against lateral movement by said straps.

2. The combination of a supporting frame comprising spaced standards, a bracket secured to said standards and having a recess in one side, a guide-rail secured to said bracket and having its lower edge depending below the upper wall of said recess, a traveler provided with a shoe fitting in the said recess and engaging said guide-rail, and a cutter carried by said traveler.

3. The combination of a supporting frame provided rail secured to the frame and having its lower edge below the upper wall. of said recess, a traveler, a shoe secured to the traveler and fitting in the said recess and engaging said guide-rail, a fixed blade secured upon the frame above said guide-rail, and a rotary cutter carried by said traveler and co acting with said fixed blade.

l. The combination of a supporting frame, a bracket projecting therefrom, a movable exhibitor support-ed upon said bracket, means upon said bracket for operating said exhibitor, sleeve pivotally mounted upon the bracket, a shaft mounted in said sleeve, a pinion on said shaft adapted to actuate the means for operating the exhibitor, a roller on said shaft .ulaptcdto bear upon and be actuated by cloth drawn over the frame, a lever fulcrumed, upon the frame, and a link connecting said lever with said with a recess in one side, a guideto move the roller and' the v "5. The combination of a supporting frame, "wheel to support cloth drawn over the frame,

'an arm pivoted to said frame and adapted to support .one end of the reel, and a latch mounted on the frame and adapted to en- I gage said arm to retain it in I engagement with the reel. y

6. The combination of a supporting frame,

, means for measuring 'cloth passing over the frame,-means for severing the measured cloth, and means, actuated by the severing means to render the measuring means inoperative.

7. The combination of a frame, a measuring roller mounted on the frame for rotation and for pivotal'moven'ient, a lever fulcrumed on the frame and connected with said roller to impart pivotal movement thereto, a traveler mounted on the frame, and a projection on the traveler arranged to ride on said lever and actuate the same whereby the I measuring roller will be pivotally moved and released from the cloth;

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

. HARRY G. STEELY. \[L.S.]

Witnesses:

O. A. HARTZLER, J. THATCHER. 

